Pages

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

The news podcast Media Matters, with Bob McChesney featured Noam Chomsky and his views that are not exactly middle of the road in the US.

Even though I do not agree with all of what Chomsky says, I find it refreshing to hear him. His cynicism about Israel is something one needs to hear, I think. If one applies a similar kind of cynicism to the Arab world, or to Hamas and Hezbollah the conclusions may be different.

That is where Chomsky, I feel, derails himself. You cannot help but feel in his remarks a subtext of praise for the regimes in Cuba and Venezuela and so the strongest element in his words are those of self-criticism. He rips off the mask of the diplomacy jargon and regular terminology in which the US and Israeli positions are usually portrayed. His words are to be kept in mind as a balance.

Here is a quick hint towards BBC's In Our Time before the latest program will be taken out of the feed. I know many of you history podcast listeners out there are interested in Roman History. Well, here is one episode you must download from the feed before tomorrow and listen to: The Augustan Age.

When Octavius became the leader of Rome, he changed his name to Augustus and became the first emperor. This started not only the era of Rome as an Empire it also meant the beginning of immense cultural flourishing. Rome was rebuilt, Rome was reinvented and world history took a definite turn.

The bottom-line is: this is not an unrest that is going to throw over the government, but it is a strong signal to the rulers it cannot mess with the people. It tells also the outside world, Iran is much more diverse that usually assumed.

The most elite of the podcast reviewers (and most especially in the History genre). We use Anne is a Man! as a sort of barometer for how we are doing. Anne is a Man can assume the role of THE podcast reviewer on line; no one does it as well as he does.